Crushed
by hotangelictomboy
Summary: You know your life is going downhill when you lose your friends, are nearly raped, and try to deal with your parents divorce. Then, when the least likely person seems to genuinley want to help, you can't help but to question both them and yourself. SSHG
1. Chapter 1: No Choice

**A/N: As promised, here is a revision. I know some of you my not want me to do this, but I'm really just correcting spelling and combing a few chapters together so they're longer and so I can make the second book sooner. I have added a little input to this chapter to make it longer, but I haven't combined any chapters with it. I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 1: **_**No Choice**_

Hermione sat in Dumbledore's office feeling weak from the loss of so much blood. Her wrists were bandaged and Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore all stood in the room with her, trying to pry her for a reason of killing herself. Still, she remained ever silent. Finally, Dumbledore threatened her harmlessly.

"If you will not give us an answer, Miss Granger, then we will be forced to send you home to live with your parents."

"My parents are divorced," Hermione stated coldly.

"Is that the reason you did this?"

"Part of it," Hermione said, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Well, then you have two choices. Either you go to counseling with Professor Snape-"

"Why me," Snape shouted, clearly not wanting to do what he was being volunteered for.

"Or," Dumbledore continued without looking in Snape's direction. "You can go home to whichever one of your parents that you wish to."

Hermione thought for a moment. Most likely, she wouldn't be able to go out like she had the summers since her parents divorce had been finalized. All her muggle friends would be in school and she didn't have anyone to take her clubbing but them. However, she didn't want to go into counseling with Snape, let alone any other teacher. She had made that mistake before. And she would not make it again.

"I'll go home," she stated.

All of the teachers looked at her with confusion. "You would give up your future as a witch just to go home to get out of counseling," Snape asked.

"Yes."

"Well, Miss Granger, it seems you have made your choice, but I have made mine. You won't be going home. It's not an option."

"Then why did you say it," Snape and Hermione both screamed at him. Dumbledore smiled and said that he was testing her to see how far she would go, but didn't explain more.


	2. Chapter 2: Expecting More

**A/N: sorry it has taken so long to update. I'm trying to decide what things to include, which things to add, and what to delete. I hope you like it. Please R&R if you're able.**

**Chapter 2: **_**Expecting More**_

Hermione stood in the doorway of Severus Snape's office while he berated another student for something she had done in class. When the student left, Snape noticed her standing in the doorway and told her to close the door. After entering, Hermione sat in the desk in front of him. Not one to keep her feelings inside, she came right out and told him, "I don't want to be here any more than you do. So there is really no need to state the obvious on your part." She had spoken callously, with no emotion in her voice, making Snape smirk to himself.

"You remind me of someone I once knew," he told her.

"Who?"

"Maybe I'll tell you one day. First, lets get down to it. This is completely confidential. I cannot speak to anyone about what is said in these sessions and the same is expected of you unless it is something you said. I do not expect you to open up right away. However, I do expect honesty. When I ask you a question, answer it honestly or simply tell me you would rather not answer. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes, sir," he corrected.

"Sorry, sir."

Sitting behind his desk, Snape took out a piece of parchment, quill, and ink; then began writing. "When did your parents get divorced?"

"When I was in my fifth year at school."

"When was it finalized?"

"Right after the war ended, sir."

The two of them were silent as the quill scratched against the parchment before Snape. When the quill stopped, Snape looked up slowly and asked her, "How long have your friends alienated you?"

"Who says they've alienated me?"

"For the past month, you've been sitting alone -- when you come at all -- in the Great Hall. You don't sit with them in classes and you completely avoid them at all costs."

Hermione remained silent, knowing he was, in fact, correct.

"Since when have you remained silent to anything you know the answer to," Snape asked her snidely.

"I just don't have anything to say, sir."

"OK, fair enough. What else made you try to annihilate yourself?"

"Annihilate is a bit harsh, sir."

"No, it is just another word for kill."

"Not to me, sir."

"OK, what made you try to kill yourself?"

"No particular reason, sir. I just didn't feel like anyone would miss me. My parents-" The two of them were silent, unwilling to reveal anything too personal, even if it was confidential. She'd had a psychiatrist at one point in her life and he had told he parents everything was said in confidentiality. _So much for that, _she had thought to herself when she had discovered the transgression.

"Alright, since you obviously don't want to talk, we'll start again tomorrow at seven," she told her while he penned the appointment on the parchment, his greasy black hair falling over his face.

"Yes, sir." Hermione stood and quietly walked out of the office, leaving Snape alone to think about who she reminded him of when he was her age.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Hermione sat in the front desk in Potions with her assigned partner, Pansy Parkinson. She could hear the whispers about her as she put the required ingredients in the cauldron with her bandaged wrists. When she had had enough, she gathered her things and left the classroom without pausing when Snape called her name.

Entering the girls bathroom, she slammed the door on one of the stalls and silenced her cries while levitating herself as not to be seen.

"Miss Granger," Snape called from the stall door. She hadn't heard him come in. "I know you're in there. If you don't want to come out, it is fine. Just tell me why you left my classroom so quickly."

"You obviously didn't hear the whispers," she said in a tearful voice after lifting the silencing and levitation spells.

"I guess," he said after a pause. "Over the years I've learned to block out the things people say that aren't friendly or even mildly polite; even if they weren't about me."

"Well, it's hard for me to do that. I've never been able to block out anything; not even my parents fighting. I always left when they fought."

"When I was at Hogwarts," Snape began, moving away. "I was teased, ridiculed, and made an outcast. It was bad in Gryffindor, but it was even worse in my own house. Everyone hated that a half blood was able to get into what was supposed to be a pureblood house. So they made me pay for who my father was. A man whom I hated. A man who my mother just couldn't let go of; even after all the fighting, the beating, and the lies.

"The point is I learned to deal with what everyone was doing and saying. I blocked it out with writing. It seemed to help with my anger and my pain."

Hermione was silent for a minute. "Are you suggesting I find something to help me block things out?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying," Snape stated.

After a moment, Hermione opened the stall door and exited it. Snape stood with his back against the sink, arms crossed over his chest, head down. When he saw Hermione, he reached inside his robes and pulled out a notebook, then handed it to her. "This should help you. Read what is written inside and try to come up with your own thing that will help you. It can be poetry, stories, or even a journal."

Snape wiped away the tears on her cheeks with his thumb silently and left Hermione alone in the bathroom.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Being Head Girl had its advantages. Hermione got her own room, bathroom, and common room to study in without disturbances. Sitting on her black leather couch, in front of the fire, she opened the notebook and began reading about Severus Snape's life.

_They're fighting again. No matter what I do, I can't seem to make them stop. Whether it's about me or the smallest thing like what time dinner is, they're __**always**__ fighting._

_Father left today. Mother can't seem to get it together. She seems to have lost something. The sparkle in her eye isn't there anymore. There is no mother anymore, just the shell of her body. I don't understand it. If he always hit us and yelled at her, why is she missing him?_

_Mother's funeral was today. Father had the nerve to show up. After ten years, he finally showed some bloody interest in her. No doubt, he thought she had left him a big pile of cash and the house. Of course, he didn't know the will had been read privately yesterday. She had left everything to me. _

_Talking to father at the funeral made me angry. I hit him. I could not take it anymore. I hit him and left the funeral without speaking of the eulogy I had written for my mother._

_I found mother's diary today. She always seemed so happy in my younger years. Now … I'm not so sure. She wrote about so many things. First father, then me, and then her life. Sometimes she even wrote about her family. When she wrote, she had a solemn effect about her; as if she was seeing everything happen through another's eyes. As if she was an uninterested third party or bystander._

Hermione read the four entries and then closed the notebook, giving Snape the privacy he had always prized so much. She then took out a notebook of her own from her trunk and began to write.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Hermione arrived at Snape's office and knocked softly.

"Enter," she heard from the other side of the door. Opening it, she saw Snape at his desk, his quill scratching away as he graded papers on the essays her class had handed in the day before.

Hermione sat down in one of the chairs before his desk and placed his notebook on his desk. When he looked up, he saw she held her own notebook. "I didn't read all of it sir, I only read a page or two and then stopped."

"Did it help," he asked her nonchalantly.

"Yes, sir."

"What did you write about," he asked.

"I'd rather you read it and write responses to each one, telling me what you think, sir."

"Miss Granger," he said after a moment. "I cannot tell you what you did right or wrong. This is your writing, not an assignment. If you would like me to read it for the purposes of the sessions, I will. But I will not be able to grade you on your writing itself."

"I understand, sir," she said, placing her book on the desk with his. She left his office a minute later, leaving him to read her notebook.

_If you have ever felt like there was no one who understood you, then you and I are on the same page._

_My parents' divorce was expected, but there was still pain when they told me. I think they stayed together for so long because of me. Yet, they screamed at each other when they thought I wasn't listening or asleep._

_Over the years, I've learned if you expect too much, you'll only come out to be disappointed. Life throws obstacles in your way you have to learn to overcome. If you don't, disappointment will strike again._

_Losing my two best friends wasn't as disappointing as I thought it would be. And now I understand why. They had used me countless times over the years. They had never really cared to get to know the real me. They assumed things were great at home, that I was too smart for them. But the truth is, I'm only smart because I read so much and I study constantly._

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Snape went to Hermione during class the next day and slipped her a letter while "looking over her potion." Hermione waited until she went to her common room to open it.

_Miss Granger,_

_You and I are more alike than I realized. Both of our parents are no longer together, we have no friends, and no one seems to understand us._

_Professor S. Snape_

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Hermione sat in Potions class the following week and waited for her essay to be handed to her. When Snape was done with the rest of the class, and she still didn't have one. Raising her hand, she waited until he turned around to see her hand. "Stay after class. Miss Granger," he said when he did. "I have something to discuss with you about your paper."

When class ended, Hermione gathered her things slowly and waited for the rest of the class to exit before she headed to Snape's desk.

Snape turned her paper around for her to see. There was a large D on the front page. "Would you like to explain," Snape began, "how you got a D for Dreadful on your first assignment in Potions class this year, which happens to be your last year?"

Hermione remained silent.

"Let me save you the trouble, Miss Granger. You didn't give the assignment any thought. You didn't meet the requirements and you made minimal effort. I will not tolerate it. Either you get your act together or we will be doing study sessions instead of counseling sessions. Understood?"

Hermione nodded her head. Professor McGonagall had spoken to her that morning as well. All of her classes were harder this year, but every teacher believed that she was capable of completing the assignments with her normal grades. Her grades were declining, but she didn't know how to bring them up.

Snape turned from her and spoke to his desk. "I would have expected more of the brightest witch since my own mother went to school here. You're dismissed."

Hermione left the classroom and went to her common room. Taking her notebook from her desk, she sat on her bed and began to write.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Snape was surprised as Hermione entered his office. She left as quickly as she came, leaving her notebook on his desk. So, instead of going back to his work, he opened the notebook and read what she had written.

_Too many people expect so much of me. I don't know how to please them. My parents are always pushing me to succeed. My 'friends' use me for assignments in school. Even my teachers expect me to be the best and push me to their expectation. Sometimes, I just want to tell them to stop and actually see what they're bloody well asking me to do._

Snape knew that the entry was targeted for him. After writing her a short note at the end of the entry, he closed the book and went to make his delivery.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS\

Hermione sat on her couch and read the entry that Snape had placed in her notebook. He had scowled at her and held out her notebook in anger when he had entered her common room.

_I expect so much of you because I believe in you. You remind me of myself when I was your age and I don't want you to end up like me._


	3. Chapter 3: Understanding

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I hope you enjoy what I've done with the chapters. They only have a few tweaks here and there.**

**Chapter 3: **_**Understanding**_

Having not seen Hermione Granger at breakfast or in her morning classes, Snape went to her old friends, to see if they had heard anything of her or if they had seen her.

"We haven't seen her. How would we know where she is? She isn't chums with us anymore."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your tone, Weasley. You should know to show teachers more respect than that." Snape left, frantically searching and wondering what had happened to Hermione. _Did she try again? Why would she? I thought she was making some real progress with her writing in her notebook. _Heading for the Head Girl's room, he said the password that he had been given on the day he went searching for her the first time, and to his great relief, it still worked. The portrait of Hermione relaxing in her common room swung open. However, Hermione wasn't in her common room.

The portrait to the Head Girl's room and the Head Boy's room had been bewitched to show where they were at all times, but not necessarily what they were doing, so they would have some privacy. Hermione Granger was a smart witch; she must have bewitched it to show what she wanted it to show.

Entering the Head Girl's bedroom, he saw hide nor hair for her, so finally, he cautiously entered her bathroom after tapping on the door. And there she lay, under her bath water, holding her breath while her eyes closed tightly to block him from her view. Snape watched her for a few seconds to see if she was going to resurface, but when it became clear she wasn't, he grabbed her from the tub and took her into her room where he laid her down on her bed.

"Let me go, you don't understand anything," Hermione screamed, lashing out with her fists.

Snape covered her with a blanket and held her there gently. "The problem is, I do understand. I also had no friends when I was your age. My friends left me when I was in my fifth year. Get it through your head that the world isn't a good place with people you are going to like or get along with. Committing suicide is not going to help that fact nor will it change that fact for the rest of the people in the world. I hope you realize that before I did. Because it took me a hell of a long time to get it through my head."

Hermione simply laid on her bed, staring at her brilliant Professor, astonished at his subtle confession. But she was pulled from her musing thoughts as he said, "Get dressed. We have a counseling session tonight and your not missing it like you did last Friday." He left her alone in her room to begin dressing. He knew that he had been overly harsh with her, but he wanted to give her the facts before she ended up like him, with no one in the world who cared with the exception of Albus Dumbledore.

When Hermione emerged from her room, they left for the dungeons. Sitting behind his desk when they arrived, Snape scratched away at some parchment and made it clear that he was severely disappointed in her.

Hermione felt that Snape had been harsh with her, but she knew he was one of the very few people who would apologize to her. She also knew that he was in fact correct, but she wouldn't admit it to him.

"So, why did you try again," Snape asked once he had finished scratching away. Now he sat back in her black winged chair and waited to her to speak. It seemed that he had been watching her for some time now.

"I have my reasons," Hermione answered simply."

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you have no friends, students are spreading rumors about you, and that the teachers are-how did you put this-pushing you too hard?"

"No," Hermione said a little too quickly, wanting him to think that there was nothing else to her reasons. It must have worked, too. The next thing he said convinced her of that.

"You really do remind me of myself."

"I'm sorry if I do, but there is no way that I am going to open up to you completely."

"I do not expect you to, Miss Granger. However, I do expect you to show a certain amount of respect for me," he proclaimed snidely.

"Sorry, sir."

Snape went back to his parchment and scratched some more with his quill, assumingly about why she was committing suicide. After speaking of her grades for the next hour, Hermione finally answered his first question.

"My parents are so wrapped up in their own lives that they don't even notice me. I was out all night at my father's house. He was in the kitchen when I walked in the back door. He didn't even look up. Then, when I was at my mother's house it was the same. It was as if I didn't exist to either of them anymore. Like I wasn't important.

"My friends have alienated me, as you do delicately put it. I've changed, according to them. It's only my clothes that have changed. And I like them. I haven't changed personally." When she finished, Snape made more notes and then looked up at her.

"So you think that no one cares if you kill yourself. You think that no one will miss you." Neither was a question. He had stated both and she did nothing to refute it. The session ended and Hermione left with shock radiating through her body at having told him some of the reasons for her attempted suicides.

_At least I didn't tell him the main reason. Then he would definitely betray confidentiality._

Little did she know that at that very moment, Snape was already headed for the headmaster's office with his notes on their sessions.


	4. Chapter 4: Missing

**Chapter 4: **_**Missing**_

The next day, Hermione entered the headmaster's office and was faced with Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and to her outright surprise, her parents. "I thought muggles weren't allowed inside Hogwarts."

"There are exception, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said gently. "This is one of them. Please, come in and sit down."

Hermione sat in the chair in front of his desk while her parents flanked each side of the chair.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore began. "Professor Snape has brought something to my attention that made it clear of having no choice but to inform your parents of what was happening."

Hermione scoffed. "So much for confidentiality. I should have known. This is why I don't trust anyone. They always betray that trust. Hermione looked no where but her feet. She truly felt betrayed, as she had said. She had trusted Snape enough to open up, and he had told her that it was confidential.

_He Lied._

_**Why are you so surprised?**_

Hermione didn't have an answer to her own question.

"Sweetie," her mother began, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hermione shrugged it off and stood up. Turning to the door, she was halfway there when Snape stepped in front of her. She didn't bother listening to him. She merely pushed around him and left the office.

***HGSS***

Meanwhile, back in the office, Snape stood where she had pushed him and listened as Hermione's parents spoke to Dumbledore.

"Why did you not contact us sooner than now," Mr. Granger asked.

"We felt that because your daughter is of age in the wizarding world, she is able to make her own decisions."

"So you let her just keep trying is what you're trying to say."

"That is not what I am saying at all. She was put into counseling as soon as she was recovered from her first attempt."

"Why didn't you inform us of it then?"

"I already told you-"

"Maybe because she didn't think you would care," Snape interrupted. "Maybe because during the summer, when she was out partying at all hours of the night, you didn't notice. And when she arrived in the house the next morning, you still didn't notice."

"Our daughter was never out partying," Mr. Granger said angrily.

"Oh, really? That's not what she said in our sessions. In fact, she said that was one of the reasons that she did it. Because it felt like she didn't matter to you anymore; like she didn't exist."

"You're lying!" Mr. Granger took a swing at him, but, having grown up with a muggle father, he had learned to defend himself without magic. Twisting the man's arm behind his back, he dislocated his shoulder and said, "No, I'm not lying."

"Severus, release him at once," Dumbledore said calmly.

Snape released him and popped his should back in place instead of letting Dumbledore heal do it magically, which would have caused the man no pain. He then left the office and searched for Hermione. By the time he discovered her missing clothes in her bedroom, he was frantically running back to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore still remained there, where he was trying to calm down Hermione's parents. Instead of talking to Dumbledore privately, he told him what had occurred.

***HGSS***

The next few days were frantic searches for the missing student, Hermione Granger. After the Ministry was informed, the Daily Profit published a piece on the girl, but there were no pictures of her in the paper, nor were there any around the wizarding world. There was only a simple description of her, which could match any number of witches and muggles alike. The first that was searched was Hogwarts. The students filed out on the ground, where they were thoroughly checked by Snape and McGonagall. After that was finished, The students stayed outside, while the teachers searched every room and secret passage. Later the next day, while they were searching the Forbidden Forest, Harry Potter went to Dumbledore and informed him that his Invisibility cloak and secret map of Hogwarts was missing. In their place was a note from Hermione.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know that you and I are no longer chums or mates, or friends, whichever you want to call it, but I felt the urgent need for both your Invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map. I hope you understand this need, for I do not have the time to inform you of it. Suffice it to say, I hope you don't file a theft report with the Ministry of Magic. However, seeing as we are no longer friends, I would understand if you did file it. However, if you do not wish to file a report, take this note to Professor Dumbledore or Professor Snape. Either one of them will know the spell that will reveal the location to both your Marauders Map and your Invisibility cloak. I will be done with both by the time this note appears. Hopefully you do not discover that they are missing before then. Thank you for your time and patience with me._

_Hermione Granger_

Dumbledore revealed the location of both the map and the invisibility cloak, but there was no indication as to where Hermione was when they found them. Now, four days later, Hermione Granger was still missing. And here Snape sat behind his desk on a Friday night, blaming himself for the fact that she had run away. She was right. He had betrayed her. He had told her it was in the most strict confidence, and he had betrayed that confidence.


	5. Chapter 5:The Truth

**Chapter 5: **_**The Truth**_

Snape sat in the far corner of the Three Broomsticks waiting for Rosemerta to take his order. However, A young girl with curly brown hair took his order. He was reminded of Hermione. He watched her go behind the counter and watched very closely. Seeing her turn around with her guard down, he saw who she was. After a moment, he went to Rosemerta and informed her of the new information he had. She nodded slowly and gave him a key from behind the counter with a room number on it and then went to speak to the young lady that she had hired a few days before.

Snape entered the room Rosemerta had given him and waited in the shadows of the room. Hermione Granger entered the room and started to hastily pack her bags. Snape slipped around to the door and stood in front of it, waiting for her to turn. When she did, he asked her coldly, "Going somewhere?"

She dropped her bag and lashed out at him, her fists pummeling his chest. He held her tightly to him and felt a jolt of warmth as his body touched hers. She broke down in his arms and they both slid to the floor while she cried. When she was done, she finally spoke. "Why did you tell them? You said everything was confidential."

"I wasn't thinking," he explained. "I didn't consider how you would feel over the matter. I only thought about all the people who would miss you if you succeeded in killing yourself."

"No one would miss me accept my muggle friends."

_I would_, he almost found himself saying. "There are people in the school who would miss you."

"Who would miss me other than my teachers?"

"The students who aren't going to miss you are not worth your time. You are an amazing student and an even more amazing person who has a lot to offer. If they can't see that, they're blind to what you really are."

Hermione leaned back and looked up at him. "Will you miss me?"

Snape was caught off guard. He didn't think it would matter to her if he missed her or not. They had only been doing their sessions for a month and a half, but he already cared for her more than he had cared for Lily Evans when they were children. "Yes," he said, answering her question honestly.

Hermione's gaze dropped to his lips. He looked at her and realized that she wanted to kiss him. He felt a jolt within him and realized he wanted to kiss her as well. Leaning towards her, he waited to see if she would back away, but when she didn't, he pressed his lips to her and watched as she closed her eyes. They sat there, kissing for a few minutes, and when they came up for air, Hermione's name left his lips.

And then there was a knock on the door behind them. Snape looked at Hermione's face and slowly stood up, taking her with him. When she was steady, he stepped away from her and opened the door. Dumbledore, Rosemerta, and McGonagall entered the room. Hermione now sat on the bed in the room and waited to be reprimanded for her behavior. However, Snape whispered something to Dumbledore, who nodded and they all merely headed back to the castle.

As they walked back, Hermione couldn't help but think of the kiss that had occurred while she and Snape had been alone together. He had called her by her first name. It had sent a shiver down her spine to hear it from his lips; the same lips that had kissed mere seconds before. When he had kissed her, she felt heat spread through her entire body. Yet, she knew that it could never happen again. She was his student. And Severus Snape would never cross the line with one of his students, no matter if he did slip this one time.

***HGSS***

Tuesday, Snape and Hermione sat in their usual seats during one of their sessions. The day before, they had both acted as if nothing had happened. The same went for today. Hermione had decided to give Snape another chance with her trust. She had avoided speaking with her parents when she had returned. She knew that if she had spoken to them, it would be transparent as to how she felt about her potions teacher. That would have been a problem. Her father had always been protective when it came to boys. He would probably try to get Snape fired.

Breaking the silence between them, Hermione asked, "What did you tell Dumbledore when they came into the room on Friday?"

Snape looked up from his parchment, and, not needing an explanation as to what she was speaking of, said, "I told them that you didn't need to be spoken to about running away because I had already done so."

"But you didn't speak to me about running away."

"They don't know that."

***HGSS***

Weeks passed with very little event. Hermione trusted Snape and decided it was time to tell him about the true reason for her suicides. Opening his office door after dinner on Wednesday, she entered and waited until he looked up. Harry and Ron looked up from scrubbing cauldrons and shocked themselves by actually looking at her. Her eyes were swollen from her crying. The scars on her wrists were slowly fading. She was skinnier then she was when she came back to Hogwarts, her ribs beginning to show.

Snape looked up from his papers and said, "We don't have a session tonight, Miss Granger."

"I know, sir. I need someone to talk to right now and you're the only one that I can talk to about this. It's about what we've been talking about in our sessions; about why I was put in there to begin with."

Snape put down his quill, closed his ink bottle and said, "Potter, Weasley, we will continue this detention next Wednesday. And do not let me catch you doing that again."

Harry and Ron both left the office, without looking at Hermione a second time,. However, they were both wondering why she had been put into counseling. Hermione closed the door behind them and headed further into the office. Snape sat in his chair and conjured a chair next to his, facing it, and indicated that she should sit down in it. Hermione sat and waited to Snape to speak, but when he said nothing, she began her story.

"Over the summer, my muggle friends and I went to parties every chance we got. My parents didn't notice my absence, nor the change in me. One party, my friends left, but I had decided to stay behind. There was a boy there that I had known from childhood that I wanted to catch up with. We went upstairs to one of the bedrooms and talked for a while. Then, he changed. He tried to get me to shag him. When I refused, he tried to rape me."

Hermione swallowed past the bile in her throat and continued when Snape leaned forward, took her hand and gave it a squeeze in comfort before releasing. It was a very un-Snape-like gesture, but Hermione continued.

"I'm not even sure if he didn't succeed. I was too drunk to remember anything of what really happened. The police picked me up while I was walking back to my mother's house. She didn't even ask if I was ok. She merely yelled and grounded me for the summer. Neither she, nor my father noticed that I had stopped eating and that I was drinking to try to block out my problems. They didn't seem to care that I was ruining my life."

She paused while Snape stood and brought her into his private rooms where he sat her on the couch and brought her a drink of water. He didn't think it was a good idea to give her any alcohol to calm her down; not when she had just recently stopped a few months ago. At least her hoped she had stopped drinking.

"When I came back here, the only real home I've ever known, Harry and Ron were being selfish. There was no one who seemed to care, so I decided to end it. When suicide didn't work, I ran away. Then, you came and found me, so I had no choice but to come home."

"Miss Granger," Snape said after a long pause. I need you to think long and hard about this. Did he actually rape you?"

"I don't know," she answered Snape desperately, both wanting to know, but dreading the answer. She didn't want that boy to be the one who had taken her virginity. It was the one thing she had to give freely.

"I need to take you to the hospital wing so we'll know for sure. There may be damages to your insides if it happened. We have to know so we can take care of the injuries. Madam Pomfry will tell no one of what is happening if we explain the situation to her. Do you agree?"

Hermione nodded her head and hey left his private room and dungeons in the direction of the hospital wing. When they arrived, Snape went to speak to Madam Pomfry. When they emerged, Hermione was examined behind a magical screen while Snape waited outside. When she was done, Madam Pomfry invited Snape back in and spoke directly to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, your hymen is still intact and there is no damage. However, I do regret to inform you that I have removed a tracking spell that was placed on you some time ago. It is likely that the person who placed it on you will be here within the next week or two, looking for you."


	6. Chapter 6: Arraignment

**A/N: I thank you all for the wonderful reviews that you have given me. Here is the next chapter. I am trying to update sooner with these so that I cane get to the chapters that you haven't truly read yet, because even though there are changes, you have read the majority, despite the little twists I have been putting in there. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6: **_**Arraignment**_

The next morning, Hermione entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. She was halfway through her breakfast when she noticed people staring at her and whispering among themselves. Since she had returned from Hogsmeade, the rumors about her had died down, but mow it seemed as if they were starting again, though she had no idea why. She didn't dwell on this though. Instead, she grabbed her bag and went to her rooms to catch up on her school work, skipping out on classes.

When she found herself to be ahead, as she liked to be and usually was, she checked the time on the grandfather clock beside her desk. It was past lunch time. Finally hearing the rumbling of her stomach, she stood up and headed for the kitchens, forgetting that classes would end momentarily. When they did end, she was jostled and pushed around the halls before she fell. Feeling someone helping her to her feet, she looked up and saw Snape. Not bothering to thank him, she once again headed towards the kitchen, her stomach now growling more vigorously.

Arriving, she ordered herself some lunch and sat down to eat it while the house-elves went about their business of preparing dinner. Finishing, Hermione stood and turned to find herself falling backwards before being caught by the very thing that had nearly made her fall; Severus Snape.

"Don't I get a thank you," he asked smirking.

"Thanks," she said as she righted herself.

"I meant about earlier," he stated, still not releasing her from his grasp. They remained dangerously close to each other. One of Snape's hands was on her hip, while the other was on the small of her back. Jumping apart at the portrait swinging open, they both watched as Dumbledore entered and told them to follow him to his office after noting their nervousness.

Upon entering the headmaster's office, they were faced with a long table of governors in place of Dumbledore's desk and throne-like chair. Hermione and Snape stood in front of the governors, waiting until one of them spoke.

Lucius Malfoy looked up from his notes and spoke first. "You have been seen together on more than one occasion while alone in Severus Snape's office. Testimony has been placed before us that suggests a certain relationship prohibited between student and teacher has occurred between the two of you. The purpose of this arraignment is to give you a chance to refute said testimony." "Who gave you this testimony, Lucius," Snape asked before Hermione could speak.

"The anonymous testimony is unimportant," Lucius said plainly and calmly, yet his eyes never once went to Snape. They were placed on Hermione and Snape stiffened at what he saw in those eyes. Lust.

Hermione spoke before Snape lost his temper. "I have been seen with Professor Snape so much because I have been placed into counseling with him. Whoever told you that we're together inappropriately - and I'm almost certain as to who it is - has no idea what is going on. Besides that fact, on page two-hundred and twenty-three of Hogwarts; A History, you will find the story behind a rule that was put into effect by Godric Gryffindor's great-grandson."

"And what rule is that, _Miss _Granger," Lucius asked snidely.

"A rule that states any student of wizarding age may have a relationship with a professor as long as said relationship is consensual."

A short, stout man, one of the other governors to Lucius' right began reading on said page. It told the story of Godric Gryffindor's great-grandson and one of his Ravenclaw students. She was of age when the relationship started, so the governors placed a rule into effect. Said rule was the same one Hermione had told. Later, the Ravenclaw student and teacher married and had five children together before his wife died after almost one-hundred and fifty-three years together.

Lucius was not phased by the story. "And how would you know something like this, Miss Granger?"

"Because I have read that book twenty-three times."

"Are you saying that you and Professor Snape are together?"

"I didn't say that. I was simply stating a rule."

"Miss Granger and I have sessions every night of the week with the exception of Wednesdays," Snape stated finally. "We had one last night because Miss Granger felt the need to speak to someone who would not pass judgment on her. Is there anything else? I do not like being accused of having that type of relationship with my students."

"Yes, you may go," the stout man said before Lucius could speak.

Hermione muttered to herself while Snape scowled and went on his way. Hermione went to the Gryffindor tower where she knocked over Harry and Ron's chess game. The pieces muttered angrily while Harry and Ron looked at her, shocked and silent.

"Tell my why. Why did you do it?"

"Do what," they asked simultaneously.

"Why did you tell the governors that Snape and I are having a relationship?"

"You and Snape are dating," Ron asked, astonished.

"No, but that is not what you told the governors."

After a few more minutes of interrogation, Hermione was forced to accept that they hadn't been the informant. Only one question remained now: Who was it?


	7. Chapter 7: Incredible

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me this long to update. Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I put is a little twist for the story.**

**Chapter 7: **_**"Incredible"**_

The same night that governors had spoken to Hermione and Snape, Hermione ventured outside after her curfew. The Head Girl and Head Boy were to be in their common rooms two hours after the other students, making her curfew midnight. It was half an hour after her curfew when she ventured outside to the lake.

Sitting down on the edge, she thought about all the had occurred since that summer. But mostly, she thought of how she felt for Severus Snape. The kiss they had shared had been on her mind since it had happened. Then, when he had held her in his arms in the kitchens, she had not known what to think; she still didn't. Did he care about her? Was he attracted to her? Was she just another student? Or was she more than that?

Unbeknownst to her, Snape watched from a few hundred yards away, waiting for her to leave. If she fell asleep, he would take her inside himself.

***HGSS***

Hermione woke the next day around lunch. She found herself in a strange bed that was covered by a black blanket, which had been pulled over her. Silk sheets rubbed against her back. When she moved the blanket back, she discovered herself that she was in her bra and lace knickers, and that the sheets were black as well. She faintly heard Snape lecturing one of his classes.

Spotting her clothes in a nearby chair, she picked them up and headed to the open door, which was the bathroom. After she was dressed, she washed her face and exited the bathroom. Spotting a toothbrush on the pillow next to the one she had slept on, she grabbed it and read the note that laid under the toothbrush.

_Miss Granger,_

_Here is a toothbrush for you use. Do not leave until I return for you The rumors are becoming worse, thereby, making it difficult for the both of us. You need not be seen leaving my private quarters. I shall be back when class ends with my third years._

_Professor S. Snape_

Hermione read the note and could not help to feel rejected by his cold manner. However, she finished getting ready and emerged from the bathroom a second time to find Snape leaning casually in the doorway leading out of his bedroom.

"Are you ready," he asked coldly.

Hermione nodded her head and said nothing, Leaving the dungeons, they headed for the Great Hall.

"How did I get to your rooms last night, sir," Hermione asked.

"I found you sleeping," he lied. "I didn't know the password to your rooms, so I took you to my private quarters rather than wake Dumbledore or McGonagall."

"Te amo."

Suddenly, Snape stopped. "That is an entirely inappropriate thing to say to one of your professors, Miss Granger. You should have known that."

"My password is Te amo, sir."

Snape picked up his pace once more and said nothing more. Reaching that Great Hall, Snape entered while Hermione went to her rooms.

***HGSS***

Later that night, Snape sat at his desk waiting for Hermione when the clock struck nine. Deciding she must have forgotten their session and gone to sleep, he went to sleep himself.

Meanwhile, in the Head Girl's room, Hermione sat at her desk with her notebook, scratching away on the paper inside. She wrote about the rumors, what she felt about them, and what she thought of Snape.

Of course, she had absolutely no intention of showing anyone, but she wrote it down nonetheless.

***HGSS***

The following morning, a Saturday, Snape entered the Head Girl's room to speak with Hermione. She sat at her desk with her head on her arm, sleeping. Snape moved her to her bed before heading back to her desk and taking her notebook.

Snape sat down at his desk and read what she had written.

_Rumors have been following me my whole life. They started when I was too young to understand what they were about and followed me until I came to Hogwarts. The first two months I was here, the other students alienated me because to them, I was a bossy know-it-all who couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut about books or rules that needed to be followed. When Harry and Ron gave me a chance, I never told them about my life at home. I merely let them assume what they wanted to assume. They never came to my house during the summer; never asked. And I didn't offer. If I stayed at my parents, we always went on vacation, so I never had to tell Harry and Ron about their fights. I simply told them about where we went on vacation._

_Not only the rumors, but Snape. The kiss he gave me was __incredible__. But what am I supposed to think about his cold demeanor towards me? First, he's totally neutral toward me. Then, he kisses me. And now he's back to being his usual cold self. That kiss would have woken me if I had been sleeping, but now, I don't know why he did it. I don't understand it. Maybe if_

Snape put the notebook exactly as he had found it and then went to correct his students' essays.

***HGSS***

Hermione woke the next morning to run to where she had left her notebook. It was exactly as she had left it Breathing a sigh of relief, she went to get dressed. She vaguely recalled hearing Snape calling her name while she slept, but she hadn't bothered to open her eyes.

It was Sunday, a day for Quidditch. Slytherin and Gryffindor would be playing today, which meant everyone would be there. She was free to wander the castle alone and think about things that were going through her mind. They were the same thoughts that had been going through her head for three and a half weeks, since Snape had kissed her the night she had returned to the castle.

While Hermione walked around the castle, Snape sat in the Quidditch stands, not actually watching the game like he was usually prone to do. Hermione had never missed a game between their rivaling houses and today she wasn't here. His mind was fixed on her presently, worried as to where she was.

Suddenly, Dumbledore sat next to him and told him they were going to search for Hermione while the students were otherwise too occupied to notice. Subsequently, he, Dumbledore, and McGonagall went in search of Hermione throughout the castle.

Upon entering the Astronomy Tower, Snape listened and hid in the shadows as Hermione spoke to Nearly-Headless-Nick, resident Gryffindor ghost.

"There are an immense amount of thoughts running through my brain." The sentence made it seem as if they had only just begun to speak.

"And what thoughts are those, dear girl?"

"Well, there is someone special to me and he seems to be the only thing on my mind."

Snape's chest clenched at the thought of another man holding Hermione's heart. He didn't like that idea at all. She was _his_ and his _alone._

"And what is the name of this special someone.?"

"I'd rather not say. Only because he doesn't feel the same way and I don't want to make a fool of myself if you go to speak with him about it."

Nick smiled. This girl knew him so well. He was one of the ghosts that always tried to fix the students' problems when they came to him. "How do you know he doesn't feel the same way?"

"He's a bit older than I am. It's also a simple matter of different houses. He's a Slytherin and there is no way a Slytherin would ever care for a muggleborn like me."

"You've never heard the story of Eileen Prince and her muggleborn lover, have you?"

"Professor Snape's mother had a muggleborn lover?"

"Yes."

Snape had heard the story when he was just a young boy. His "father" had been drinking, had gotten angry and screamed that he wasn't his child. His mother had calmed him down and told him the story of how she and his father had fallen in love and why they weren't together.

_**When Eileen was in her seventh year at Hogwarts, a young man by the name of Brandon Reese McDermott transferred to Hogwarts. He was sorted into Gryffindor. Every girl in the school, including the girls in Slytherin fell head over heels for him. Everyone, that is, except for Eileen. Not one girl could get his attention. He was constantly studying in the library. His best subject was Potions; his favorite, too. **_

_**Eileen found herself in the library one afternoon with an armful of books. Brandon also had books in his arms while they were headed towards each other. Their books scattered across the floor of the library and mixed with each other when they ran into each other. Eileen and Brandon switched a book and Brandon was the one to seek her out when he noticed. The only thing he remembered about her was that she was in Slytherin and she had long coal black hair. Asking some Slytherin boys was a mistake on his part. They pulled their wands on him and told him that he couldn't associate himself with Slytherin's because he was a "no good" Gryffindor**_

_**A week passed with him holding Eileen's book and she holding his. When she stepped into the library with his book, she sat down at his desk and handed it to him. "I apologize for my brother. He can be a little overbearing at times."**_

"_**I beg your pardon," Brandon asked.**_

_**Eileen had soft eyes as soft and as clear as he mother's. Her heart shaped face made her hair curve around it in an angelic manner. Her body held and hourglass form and her curves were enough to entice any man. But the way her bother and father were, no man would dare. She spoke in an angelic voice, matching her description, making her all the sweeter. "My brother pulled his wand on you with his friends when you asked about me to get your book."**_

"_**Oh, right," Brandon answered. His black hair was greasy, despite having taken a shower that morning. His dark eyes reflected pools of black night and his robes did nothing to hide his muscular arms an body. "Thank you for returning it."**_

"_**Not a problem," Eileen said, taking her own book and standing to leave.**_

"_**Wait," Brandon exclaimed. "I never got your name."**_

"_**Eileen Prince."**_

"_**Eileen, would you like to do something together sometime. Maybe go to Hogsmeade or the lake?"**_

"_**Sure," she said smiling.**_

_**After that day, they were inseparable. They studied together, went to Hogsmeade together and ate together in the kitchens. As their relationship became more apparent to Eileen's brother, he captured Brandon and tortured him to death. Eight weeks after his death, Eileen discovered that she was pregnant. She was married off a month later to a man who didn't care for her or her baby. Her baby was becoming more and more like his father in both looks and brains. And she missed Brandon more as the years went by. Finally dying at age 26 when her child was nine years old, she went to be at peace with the love of her life.**_

After finishing the story, Nick watched Hermione.

"What does that have to do with muggleborns?"

"Brandon was a muggleborn. And Eileen was a pureblood."

"But surely the child wasn't Professor Snape."

"Yes," he said with a pause. "He is the child."

"That doesn't fix my problem. Not all Slytherin's are like Eileen Prince."

"No, but her son is."

"So?"

"Judging by how closely you were listening to the story, I'm assuming that the man you have feelings for is Professor Snape." Hermione blushed and gave her secret away. In the shadows of the tower, Snape felt his tension leave his body and his heart unclench in his chest. "You won't say anything to anyone, Will you, Sir Nicholas," Hermione asked.

"Of course not, dear girl."

Snape heard McGonagall and Dumbledore on the stairs, but chose to stay in the shadows while they spoke to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, are you aware of the Quidditch match game today?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."

"Is there a specific reason for your absence, then?"

"I needed some time to myself, sir."

"Alright. I think it's time you came to the game."

"Yes, sir."

They left, Dumbledore waiting until they were gone before looking into the4 shadows with a knowing look in his sparkling blue eyes.

***HGSS***

Come Monday night, Hermione sat in front of Snape's desk during a session when Snape asked, "Incredible, huh?"

"Pardon me, sir?"

"The kiss we shared in the Three Broomsticks. You said it was incredible in your journal."

Hermione said nothing She simply sighed and put her head in her hands.

"What do you think it was about?"

"I have no bloody clue," Hermione practically screamed at him.

"Do not speak to me like that, Miss Granger. As I said a few months back, I expect you to show me some respect. And I do not appreciate the audacity you have to write about that kiss in plain site of your common room where anyone could read it."

"Not everyone can read it. They must have permission first. You are the only one who reads from it other than myself."

"Even so, with it sitting out in the open, any one of the staff could walk in and read it ."

"Only Dumbledore and McGonagall know my password. If they saw the notebook, it would appear blank to them. So, now that we have all of that cleared up, if you will excuse me, I am leaving before I am humiliated even more." Hermione stood from her chair and headed for the door. Before she reached the knob, a hand shot out and landed on the door. She looked up to see Snape looking down at her.

"I didn't dismiss you," he said.

Hermione turned around and face him. He stared down at her as she placed her back against the door and crossed her arms over her chest and looked back up at his face. Lowering his head, he kissed the side of her neck and smirked as he heard her intake of breath. He moved up her jaw line, brushing his lips across her skin on the way to her mouth. Kissing the corner of her mouth, he pulled back to look at her. Her eyes were closed, her mouth partly slighted on a sigh. Deciding it was safe, Snape lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly. Before he could pull back, Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

When they came up for air, they both breathed heavily and Snape asked, "Incredible?"

"Very," she answered, trying to catch her breath.

"The reason I've kissed you is because I can't seem to stop myself. But if this ever gets out5, my reputation will be ruined."

"So will mine," Hermione agreed.

"Despite the fact that you are of age, we need to keep this quiet."

"What are you saying?"

Snape kissed her again and said, "I want you."

"Are you asking for an affair with me?"

"Yes."

Hermione agreed to the affair and left his office. She thought that if she could have even a small part of him, she would take it.


	8. Chapter 8: Protection

**Chapter 8: **_**Protection**_

For the next few days, Snape and Hermione had no contact with each other outside of classes. Both of them were feeling the strain. They showed no change to the students around them, but they could see it in each others eyes.

They both sat in the Great Hall, eating dinner when they were both thinking the same thing; _'thank the gods that we have a session tonight.'_

Hermione ate very little, not thinking about anything in particular outside the session with Snape when someone came up behind her and covered her eyes, saying, "Guess who?" in a French accent.

Hermione turned, surprised to find someone she had known for years; someone she had hated for months.

"Pierre," she said quietly. The Great Hall was focused on the two of them. Hermione had no choice but to grab her bag, throw it over her shoulder, and tow him out of the Great Hall before someone came up to them, asking who he was., let alone how they knew each other.

Hermione stopped and turned, taking in his appearance. His dark brown hair was as sleek as it had always been, never falling in his face like it should have. His clothes were the same as they had always been, a white button-up shirt, sleek black pants and navy robes.

"What do you want," Hermione asked angrily.

"What, you don't like seeing me," he asked, his light voice clashing with his flashing brown eyes.

"You know that I don't and you know why."

Before his right hand could reach her face, he was thrown against the wall, grunting as Severus Snape's hand held him there by his throat.

The teachers stood nearby, blocking the students from entering the front hall, to see what the commotion was about.

Dumbledore walked slowly to Hermione and asked, "Do you know the young man, Miss Granger."

Hermione remained silent as she watched Pierre struggle against her future lover. Snape spoke before she could answer. "Sir, if I may, perhaps we should take this to a place that isn't quite as crowded as this."

Dumbledore nodded his agreement and they headed to his office with McGonagall. As they entered, Hermione stood in the room, not looking anywhere but the floor, only seeing the scene replay in her head.

No one had ever laid a hand on her; never even tried. Now, when Pierre tried, he hadn't been able to because Snape had protected her.

Pierre was bound to a chair while Snape stood at his shoulder ready to pounce if he escaped. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his twinkling eyes somehow diminished. McGonagall put her hand on Hermione's shoulder slowly, but she still jumped. Looking up at all of them, the tears finally came in a rush so fast that Hermione fell to the floor struggling to breath. McGonagall tried to comfort her, but she just continued to cry, ignoring all of them, her sobs filling the office with a sound of a wounded animal.

No one tried to do anything afterward until she found herself curled in a ball, gasping for breath. Then, Snape lifted her into his arms, taking her from the office. No one tried to stop him in the hallway even thought there were students around. He took Hermione to the dungeons, put her on her feet in his bedroom and stripped her of her clothes. Laying her in his bed, he put the covers over her to her chin. When she calmed down enough to breath, she asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Do what," he asked as he folded her clothing and placed them in an armchair, that stood in the corner by the bathroom door.

"Why did you stop him from hitting me?"

Snape sat on the bed beside her and turned her face toward his with his right hand, his left hand sitting on the other side of her body. "I did it because I saw my mother get hit by her husband. Women don't deserve to be hit, no matter the circumstances." He stood up and left the room, heading for the headmaster's office again.

***HGSS***

When Hermione woke in Snape's bed, she put on her clothes and went into the den of Snape's apartments. He sat on the couch, scratching away in the notebook that Hermione herself had once read pieces of. Not wanting to disturb him, she turned to leave when he spoke, still writing.

"You may stay if you wish. It is past midnight, so you will have to stay somewhere, because I don't have time to escort you to your rooms." He spoke coldly, his gentle manner from earlier completely gone, as if it had never been there. Hermione turned and slammed his bedroom door behind her.

Snape entered a few moments later, slamming the door against the wall. "You don't need to slam my bedroom door," he told her angrily, ignoring the fact that he had done it himself.

"You didn't need to be a total prick about me staying here either."

"Well, Miss Granger, I hate to tell you this, But this is who I am. If you don't like it, then you can leave at absolutely any time." he then left the room, not bothering top close the door.

Hermione followed him slowly and asked, " Don't you want to know who Pierre is?"

"Not particularly," he stated, not looking up from his notebook as he wrote in it.

Hermione left the dungeons, not bothering to close the door as she left. She arrived at her portrait and entered as she said the password, then slammed the portrait behind her, her anger getting the better of her. She ignored her portrait complaining about people controlling their tempers. She went to her room and started flinging open her drawers, grabbing clothes and throwing them on the bed. She changed into her pajamas, then went into her common room. What she found there was not something she would have expected to find; Pierre.


	9. Chapter 9 Rules of the Game

**A/N: thank you for all the wonderful reviews that I have received for the past few days. They are greatly appreciated. Here is the next chapter.**

**Warning: Some content may not be suitable for some viewers. It is rated M for a reason! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (no matter how much I may wish I do.)**

**Chapter 9: **_**Rules of the Game**_

Hermione screamed until Pierre's hand covered her mouth, his other hand holding her in one spot as she struggled. Finally, Pierre dragged her to her room and pinned her to the bed.

***HGSS***

Snape followed Hermione after a few minutes of brooding over what she had said. Of course he wanted to know who Pierre was! He also wanted to know why she couldn't seem to understand that his demeanor toward her had nothing to do with her as a whole. It was solely who he was.

So, heading to her rooms, he found himself with Dumbledore and McGonagall, both headed towards him, stating that Pierre had escaped the room they had placed him in. They all ran to Hermione's room when Snape told them she had left minutes before.

Running into Hermione's room, they discovered Pierre pinning Hermione to her bed. Snape grabbed him by his shoulders and pinned his arms to his sides as he struggled. Hermione sat up in her bed and stared, wide eyed around the room. McGonagall went to her side and tried to comfort her like she had tried in Dumbledore's office, but Hermione screamed at her not to touch her.

Going into hysterics once again, Hermione curled up in a ball on her bed and began to cry in earnest. Snape was the only one remaining when she began to calm down. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking away from her, apparently listening to her sobs with a guilty look on his face.

"So who is he," he asked her calmly.

"I thought you didn't want to know," she said as she flung herself back into her pillows.

Snape turned to look at her and put his hands of either side of her body. "I only said that because I didn't want to deal with--"

"Me," Hermione interrupted.

"Let me finish," he said coldly. "I said it so I wouldn't have to deal with facing the fact that when I saw him try to hit you, I snapped. I wanted to kill him. And that is something I haven't felt since my mother's funeral when I wanted to kill her husband five years ago. Before that, I had never wanted to kill anyone. Not when I was a Death Eater, not even when I was a student here when Potter and Black were tormenting me.

"Then, I saw him in this bed, ready to--. I was so close to killing him that if there hadn't been two other people in this room with us, I would have done it without a second thought." He then leaned down to a shocked Hermione and kissed her lips softly, as if calming himself rather than comforting her.

She softened beneath his gentle strength and opened her lips beneath his probing tongue. He pressed his chest against hers and kissed her harder, his tongue moving sensuously inside her mouth. Suddenly leaving the bed, he discarded his robes and shoes, climbing in bed beside her.

He waited for a shocked or repulsive reaction from her, but none came. Hermione turned toward him and kissed him again. As he felt her wrap her arms around his neck, he slipped his hands to her waist. She moaned as he pulled her closer to him, breast to chest, hip to hip.

He stripped both of them of their clothes and then climbed on top of her. He looked down at her and said, "Stop me at anytime. Okay?"

She shook her head in understanding and pulled him down for another kiss while he breached her maidenhead.

***HGSS***

Hermione woke the next morning to find herself alone in her bedroom. There was a note on the pillow beside her that held the familiar script of Severus Snape. However, when she read it, it held the same cold and formal manner that he used with his other students.

_Miss Granger,_

_There will be a meeting held in the headmaster's office after luch at one o'clock. I expect you will be awake by then. If you are not present at lunch, I will come to your rooms to wake you._

_Professor S. Snape_

Hermione looked at her clock to discover it was past lunch. Normally, she never slept so late, even thought it was a Saturday, but periodically through the night, Snape had reached for her again and again. Wrapping her sheet around her body, Hermione headed for her wardrobe and took out her school uniform, instead of her usual Saturday attire of jeans and a long sleeved shirt for winter.

As she got into her skirt, she zipped it and went for her button-up shirt when someone slipped their arm around her mouth and stomach. Hermione's eyes widened in fear until Snape's face showed up on her left side, smirking. He took his hand from her mouth and she sighed in relief.

"You scared me," she told him as she turned into his arms. She shivered as he kissed her neck.

"Finish getting dressed,: he told her, but didn't move away from her nor drop his hands from her waist.

They stood there together until Snape tipped her head back and kissed her. Then he pushed her away and spoke in his usual cold manner. "Get dressed. They're waiting for us."

Hermione's heart was heavy as she finished dressing. She thought that after the night they had spent together, he would change his demeanor towards her; at least while they were alone. But the only time he showed her anything other than his cold, formal self, was when he was holding her, or kissing her.

***HGSS***

The pair set out from Hermione's rooms towards the headmaster's office together. They entered his office after twenty minutes of complete silence apart from their footfalls on the stone halls.

The school governors sat at the long table they had sat at during the last meeting.

"Oh for the love of Merlin," Hermione said. "Not again. This is getting rather tedious." She slumped in the chair in front of the table and listened to the portly old man who spoke first. His hair was thinning and his face was sunken in.

"We're here to inform you that the rules have been changed."

Lucius Malfoy sat beside him with a smug look on his face.

The portly man continued with mo regard to the man next to him. "The other students and staff will be informed of the new rules at breakfast tomorrow by the headmaster. However, taking into consideration that you were under investigation and that you, Miss Granger, informed us of this rule, we feel informing you is more important than informing the others. We understand that Professor Snape cancelled your session last evening due to Pierre…" He waited for the last name to be filled in. When it became apparent that no one wished to reveal it, he cleared his throat and continued.

"There has been a change in the rules regarding the teacher - student relationship."

Hermione was handed a new rulebook and was told to turn to page six-hundred; the last page in the book. It was blank but for one rule. Reading it aloud, she informed the entire room of the new rule.

_**Any student discovered to be having a relationship with a professor that is deemed inappropriate by the school governors with be expelled without question or comment. The Professor that is having said relationship with the student will be paid his earnings and dismissed immediately.**_


	10. Chapter 10: Breaking the Rules

**A/N: thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Here is Chapter 10 which is actually where we left off from before I rewrote it. I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 10: **_**Breaking the Rules**_

Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore stood in the small room with Pierre who was bound to a chair for safety purposes. They had been interrogating Pierre for the past twenty-four hours to discover why he had bee trying to rape Hermione when he had known her for so long. So far, he had said nothing.

"Sir," Snape began. "I think we should take serious consideration to the use of Verisiterum."

"You know the school policy, Severus."

"He is not a student, sir."

Dumbledore contemplated this truth, and then agreed. Snape returned a few minutes later with a small vial from his store rooms. They forced Pierre to open his mouth and put the potion into his mouth. He swallowed it on pure reflex and they started their interrogation once again.

"Why have you been attempting to rape Miss Granger," Dumbledore started.

"I was paid to kidnap her so I thought I would get a little out of the deal."

"Who paid you to kidnap her," Snape asked urgently."

"My uncle."

"Why did he want her kidnapped," he prompted.

"So he could have her himself."

"Who is your uncle," Dumbledore asked before Snape lost his temper.

"Lucius Malfoy."

"Is he the one who put the tracking spell on her?"

"I did that so I could find her. But he ordered me to do it."

"Did he spread the rumors about Miss Granger and myself."

"No, his son overheard her telling you about the rape, so he went to his father, who told him to do it. Lucius knew it was only a matter of time before you discovered who had placed the tracking spell on her. He also knew that because I'm not a student here, you would use your precious potions on me to get me to talk rather than torturing me like any normal Death Eater would."

"I'm not a Death Eater," Snape told him and then left the room.

Entering Hermione's bedchamber, he looked at her clock to discover that it was after three am. Heading to Hermione's sleeping form, he undressed before sliding into the bed beside her. Without waking her, he removed her lace underwear and bra with careful hands. Slipping his arms around her waist, he kissed her and nibbled her neck until she stirred awake from her restful sleep. When she turned to him, he told her what Pierre had revealed.

"So it was Malfoy all this time," she asked.

"Yes," he said kissing her again, his hands sliding over he naked body.

"What about the new rule," she asked him through his kisses.

"To hell with the rules," he said as he kissed her again. And for a long time, that early Monday morning, they both forgot about the rules.

Meanwhile, in the school governors headquarters, Lucius Malfoy stood before the other governors as they argued. They had finally probed enough of his brain to see his plans for the mudblood Granger.

"We need to do something! We can't just let it happen!"

"What do we do? It's not like we can make the Ministry do something about it. They won't believe us."

The eleven governors argued over what to do while Lucius inched around the room to his wand. In one swift movement, he killed them all before they knew what had hit them.

"I couldn't have you messing up my plans now could I," he asked the empty room. He then left nonchalantly and headed to Malfoy Manor.


	11. Chapter 11: Ministry Interference

**Chapter 11: **_**Ministry Interference**_

Snape and Hermione's relationship budded within the next few weeks. They learned to trust each other and they stopped the counseling sessions because Hermione was so obviously happy. Pierre was sent to Azkaban for attempted rape. Lucius Malfoy wasn't charged because of his high stature in the Ministry.

Christmas break came for the students; Hermione went home. For the first few days, she stayed with her father, then she went to stay with her mother for the remainder. The first day with her mother passed without event, but she couldn't help feeling a sense of unease. Slowly, she headed downstairs to see her mothers back facing her while she sat on the couch. Dumbledore could be seen sitting next to her, while Snape, stood facing Hermione. Snape refused a cup of tea that Dumbledore conjured for him and looked at Hermione. She held a finger to her lips to ask for his silence and he looked away, listening to Dumbledore explain the situation to Hermione's mother.

"So you're telling me," her mother was saying. "That there is a killer out there that may be after my daughter?"

"He has an infatuation with her," Snape explained. "His name is Lucius Malfoy. He killed the other school governors when they learned of his plans to rape and kill her. After he killed them, he went into hiding. As of right now, we have no idea where he is."

Hermione felt a hand cover her mouth from behind and drag her up the stairs silently. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened to admit her father just as her she went around the corner. But he saw her. "Hermione, come back down here," he called up the stairs.

Hermione was dragged into the first bedroom on the second floor, which was the guest room. Lucius Malfoy threw her onto the bed where he leered over her and began tearing open her shirt. Hermione closed her eyes and cried as he fondled her breasts through her bra. Suddenly, he was lifted off of her without warning and a long black robe that could only be Snape's was thrown over her for decency. With one look around the room, she was faced with Snape, her mother, and her father. Lucius Malfoy and Dumbledore were no where in sight. Hermione began to see spots in front of her eyes. Her vision began to blur, and then everything went black.

***HGSS***

Hermione woke to find herself in a strange bed with surroundings unfamiliar to her. The bed she lay in was king size like Snape's at Hogwarts. She wore her normal pajama bottoms with a tank top and no bra. The blanket covering her was warm and comforting, though the air around her was cold. The room was dark so she could only see the shadows of the furniture.

"It's after midnight," she heard in the dark. She jumped and barely swallowed her scream. Snape sat up in the bed, letting the blanket fall to reveal his bare torso. "What are you doing awake?"

"I just woke up," she explained. "Did Malfoy really--" She couldn't finish the sentence. She had a flash of what had occurred earlier and began hyperventilating. Snape pushed her head between her knees and stroked her hair until she calmed down. Hermione laid back on the bed and wiped away her tears. Snape leaned back on his elbow and helped to wipe them away with his free hand. He then laid back down and pulled her into his arms.

"Where are we," Hermione asked after a moment of silence.

"My inherited house."

"Where are my parents?"

"Down the hall in separate guestrooms."

"Do they know you're in here?"

"No," he said after a pause. "They think I'm in the den on the couch."

Hermione sighed and pressed herself closer to his surprisingly warm body, closed her eyes, and went to sleep."

***HGSS***

Hermione and Snape headed back to Hogwarts after the holidays, but not before returning Hermione's parents to their homes.

Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to Azkaban for Hermione's attempted rape and the murders of the governors. Hermione mended her relationship with Harry and Ron. However, Draco Malfoy was still a problem. He made Hermione's life miserable every chance he got, never seeming to be content. Then, he revealed her relationship with Snape to the governors of the school.

Now, here they stood in the headmaster's office before the newly appointed governors and listened as they gave out their sentence, so it seemed. As the rules stated, Hermione was to be expelled and sent home and the earliest convenience. And Snape was to lose his job.

But suddenly, the door behind them opened and Ministry officials filed inside. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, eyes twinkling, as if he had been expecting them. The Ministry told them that they had one option if they wished to remain at Hogwarts. Marriage.


	12. Chapter 12: Hermione's Decision

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the last one, even thought I left a cliffhanger. This will probably not be a problem since I am going to update this ASAP. There is only one chapter left after this, and that will be the Epilogue. After the Epilogue, I am going to post the Sequel: "Marriage Isn't Bliss". I hope you enjoy the next story and the end of this one. Please Review I love them! I'm sorry it's so short, but the end is coming and I hope you like.**

**Chapter 12: **_**Hermione's Decision**_

Hermione stared at the ministry officials after they had just informed them of their decision. Them she spoke up. "I'm sorry. But there is no way that I will be marrying Severus Snape."

"Why not, Miss Granger," Dumbledore asked from behind his desk. His eyes were somehow diminished from what they had been a few seconds before.

"Because I refuse to marry a man who does not wish to marry me let alone anyone else. I'm going to pack my things."

Hermione left the Headmaster's office and headed to her dorm. Halfway through packing her books, Snape entered the room and sat on her bed.

"What makes you think I don't want to marry," he asked her without looking at her face.

"If you wished to marry, you would have done so by now, sir."

'Don't call me sir," he said, irritated. "After all we've been through these past five months, you can call me Severus."

"I was just making my point, _Severus_."

"What makes you think I don't want to marry you," he asked, coming to stand by her. He was taller than her, so she had to look up at him to see his face.

"If you wished to marry me, you would have indicated that you wished to do so in these last few months."

"Fair enough," he answered.

"Look, I'm sorry about your job. I know how it meant to you."

"Do you think your parents would rather you be expelled or marry me in order to finish your last year at Hogwarts?" Both of them knew the answer. And just like that, her choice had been made. She was marrying Severus Snape.


	13. Epilogue: The Wedding

**A/N: And here it is. THE LAST CHAPTER!!!!!!!!! I hope you enjoy it. The sequel should be up within the next few hours.**

**Note: Bold is for Snape's thoughts.**

_**Bold Italicize is for Hermione's thoughts.**_

**Epilogue: **_**The Wedding**_

Snape found himself standing under a white archway waiting for his bride to be walked down the aisle by her father. Hermione's mother came down the aisle and sat in her seat, indicating they were ready.

Hermione's parents had been told of their marriage last month and wondered what the haste was. When they explained why, her father had gone for Snape's throat. Hermione had hexed her father off of him and explained that she had to marry him in order to stay in school. They didn't like it, but they accepted it with reluctance. Just as Snape had predicted, they would rather her stay in school than be thrown out of it.

The piano played a tune called "One Thousand Words" from Hermione's favorite video game called Final Fantasy X-2.

Then, there she stood at the end of the aisle in a flowing baby blue dress. The sleeves were of medieval style and came off her shoulders to show skin while the neckline went into a scoop line, showing a small amount of cleavage. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with some tendrils of curls hanging by her ears and neck.

Snape swallowed past the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. His best man, Albus Dumbledore leaned over to him and whispered, "She looks like the bride I had always envisioned for you, Severus."

Snape said nothing, his thoughts racing through his head. **Oh, Gods……She's beautiful.**

_**I can't believe I'm doing this. **_Hermione was halfway down the aisle on her father's arm.

**I hope I can get through this.**

_**I don't know if I can get through this.**_

**I hope she doesn't change her mind.**

_**I hope I don't change my mind.**_

And finally, Hermione stood beside her groom, her heart pounding in her ears. The ceremony flew by for both Snape and Hermione and suddenly, they found themselves in each other's arms as the preacher introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Severus Snape.


End file.
